Ridiculous Fears and How To Stop Them
by RadicalRae
Summary: Or, Ciel has a bad nightmare, but can't tell Sebastian what he dreamt of. This effects their usual routine, and everyone can't help but be concerned - why did Ciel suddenly fear Sebastian so much?


**A friend asked me to write something for her. Her prompt was "Ciel has a nightmare of Sebastian killing him/hurting him and it effects their routine until Sebastian puts his fears to rest."**

 **This can be seen as either shipping (if you squint) or a parent/kid thing. Enjoy you guys.**

 **Reviews are always nice.**

* * *

 _Its dark. Its cold too, he's only in his nightgown and there's nothing protecting him from the chilled air. He wants to call Sebastian to bring him a thick blanket or a coat, or perhaps to just take him back to his comfortably warm bedroom, but when he opens his mouth nothing comes out._

 _He can't make a sound, not even a cough or a whimper._

 _But he's not afraid, not even when he looks down and finds splintered bones beneath his feet. The young boy isn't too concerned with it, he knows he's seen far worse than a pile of bones. There's a door at one end of the narrow tunnel, light shining from beneath it, and he can smell candle smoke and vanilla. It's familiar in a heart pounding way, something that both soothed him and made him uneasy._

 _The boy turns and walks towards the door, glancing down to make sure he doesn't step on the sharp ends of the broken bones. He nearly trips but catches himself on the wall - it feels cold and slippery, like slime, under his fingers._

 _He gags and pulls away, flailing for a moment to try and get the feel off of his hands._

 _The door at the end opens with a loud creak, and he can see the warm light spill over the slimy walls and the bone littered ground._

 _He ran for it, not caring about the bones or the cold wind that blew his bangs back - the moment he stepped over the threshold he slammed the door shut. He slumped against the wooden door, breathing in the slight cinnamon scent coming from the grain before he pushed himself straight and look at the room._

 _He almost didn't notice the man sitting just in the shadow, cheek resting against his hand and legs crossed at the knee. It took only a moment to recognize him._

 _"Sebastian!" Ah, his voice seemed to have come back; the name echoed through the small, warm room, lit by a copious amount of vanilla scented candles._

 _The demon butler stood slowly, until he loomed over the boy, eyes gleaming like dark rubies. The butler came closer, and the smell of decaying, rotting meat hit him hard enough that he took a step back. His thin shoulder blades hit the door, and suddenly it was no longer warm and cheery in the room; fear chilled him to the core and his heart was beating so fast he was sure Sebastian could hear it._

 _The butler no longer looked human, teeth engaging into fangs, nails now shiny black claws, skin so dark he was sure if it was skin anymore, and those eyes...dead, dark, soulless, uncaring whether or not the boy was scared._

 _"Sebastian, Sebastian stop that this instant!"_

 _The demon only came ever so closer, reaching out with those horribly long claws, plunging into his chest, twisting and pulling. The pain was so intense, searing through his small, fragile body, and yet all he could do was writhe against the door and whimper._

 _He only screamed when Sebastian descended upon him not unlike a rapid beast, all sharp teeth and sinister, cold laughter._

* * *

Ciel woke up with a start, tears tracking down his face and the sheets twisted around him as if he'd been struggling even in his sleep. His throat felt scratchy and closed off, his chest tight with pain and unadulterated terror.

He didn't dare call for Sebastian, lest the traces of the nightmare show on his face or in the cold sweat that clung to him. Carefully, the earl untangled himself from the sheets and shed his sweat soaked nightgown, letting it drop to the floor with the soft sound of fluttering fabric.

The room was dark and room, the curtains closed, and he could hear the light pitter-patter of rain on the roof.

Certain of where he was going, Ciel stood up and walked as silently as he could to the wardrobe, where he knew he'd find clean clothes to sleep in for the rest of the night. Despite the trouble of buttoning them by himself, he still felt no desire to call for the demon that would be stalking through the manner at this time of night.

He gave up on the last buttons and simply crawled back into bed, willing himself to forget the dream and the cold, terrible laughter that still rang in his ears.

* * *

"Time to wake up, young master." Sebastian flung open the curtains, although only the grey light of state rainy morning greeted him. Ciel sat up immediately, not in the mood to play the staying in bed game. No matter how hard he'd tried he couldn't get back to sleep, and he felt it in the way his body moved sluggishly and his limbs felt heavy.

And then there was the fear clenching at his belly, gnawing away at him as Sebastian moved about the room.

Silently, he congratulated himself when he didn't flinch as he was handed a cup of deliciously hot tea. He couldn't quite bring himself to look the demon in the eyes, and found all sorts of reasons to keep from holding up a conversation.

Getting dressed was a whole other problem. Usually, the gentle touch of Sebastian's hands on him as he pulled on his stockings and did his buttons and combed his hair relaxed him, gave him time to think of his schedule, but instead he was on edge, those hands only succeeding in reminding him of the phantom pain of claws tearing him apart.

Thinking of the nightmare as he was, when he saw gloved hands reach for his necktie, Ciel flinched away with a gasp before he could reel himself in.

Sebastian froze, hands still at the base of his throat, those ruby red eyes watching him with - dare he say it - concern.

"Young master -"

"I'm fine. I was lost in thought and you startled me. Finish quickly, I have things to do."

Fortunately, the demon only frowned and finished dressing the boy quickly, listing off his schedule as he stood up and closed collected the discarded night clothes. He seemed suspicious of the one on the floor, but Ciel didn't stay to hear his questions or see his curious gaze.

He tried to shrug off the fear that still clung to him, but with the warmth from Sebastian's hands still lingering on his skin, he couldn't.

* * *

"Soma...do you think Sebastian would ever hurt me?"

The prince looked up from the chessboard, surprise as clear as day on his face.

"Of course not. If he's even half the butler that he claims to be he'd never hurt his master."

"Mmph. Checkmate."

"Hey! Not fair!"

* * *

"Agni, has Soma ever...flinched when you reached for him?"

The Indian butler paused in his reading of an English cookbook, glancing back at Sebastian with obvious concern.

"No, he's never done that. Did something happen to Ciel...?"

"I am not sure. He was acting...strange this morning. Perhaps I'm just too worried?"

"Didn't you say he used to have nightmares? Maybe he had another one and he just doesn't want to admit it?"

"I'll ask when I bring him tea later. That's probably it. Oh, your curry is burning."

"Why didn't you tell me - hey, it is not. Bad joke, my friend."

* * *

The knocking at the door of his study came not long after he'd kicked Soma out, he had expected it really, but Ciel still stiffened and reminded himself calm down, otherwise he'd give himself away.

"Come in." Sebastian looked as proper as ever, pushing the tea cart into the room and going about pouring a cup of tea. For once he didn't make small talk, but the young earl could feel the demon's gaze burning into him.

"My Lord, have you been feeling well? You've been strange since this morning..."

"I'm fine."

"Young master, I beg to differ. You're shaking."

"I said, I'm _fine_." Ciel took a deep breath, daring to look up at Sebastian, though the moment he saw those eyes all he could hear was cold laughter and a sharp pain in his chest. He was not fine. He was terrified of his own butler, of what he knew had to lay just beneath his barely human skin, that monster that was just waiting until he could shed that facade and rip him apart and swallow him down.

His vision swam and he swayed, feeling bile rise in his throat and his eyes burned with...with something he didn't quite want to admit to.

"Young master, if you are unwell you should lay down." The demon came around the desk, the cup of now slightly cooled tea left on the corner of the cart, to reach for Ciel. His body reacted before his mind could catch up, and he found himself out of his chair and on the other side of the desk. Sebastian was still reaching out for him, frozen in place - probably out of shock that the earl had moved so fast for once.

"I told you that I'm fine. Just...stop looming over me."

"I highly doubt that."

"...I'm going to the library."

Ciel tried to be quick about it, but in a whirl of black and white and gleaming red eyes, he found himself pinned between the desk and Sebastian, the demon's hands on either side of him, trapping him in place. The boy glared at his chest, focusing on the silver chain that he knew led to the pocket watch that he obsessed over so much.

"Get off me."

Sebastian didn't move, nor did he speak.

"That's an order Sebastian!"

"Your actions are detrimental to your health, therefore I am not in a position to listen to your orders."

Ciel just couldn't bring himself to look up at the butler, hands at his sides and fingers digging into his thighs. He wished he had never let himself get so twisted up over a stupid nightmare because now _this_ was happening.

Sebastian was looming over him, all sharp angles and thin mouth, those eyes seemingly so much darker than they should've been in the warmly lit study, it wasn't too hard to imagine the sharp teeth, claws and the cold seeping darkness from his horrible nightmare. His body only shook harder, until he was gritting his teeth and trying to come up with a way to make his butler go away.

"Was it a nightmare? Are you having them again?"

"No!" This time, when Ciel pushed the demon, he stepped out of his way and let the earl run past him and out into the blessedly empty hallway. He ran until he was in the library, still cast in dusky, purple tinted shadows that beckoned to him in a comfortably familiar way. This sort of darkness had no malice in it, no hands lurking to grab at him and rip him apart. He didn't bother getting a book, instead he pulled a thin blanket off of one of the chairs and hid in a corner of the large room, opting to hide there until dinnertime.

* * *

Dinner was a quiet, horribly tense event with Ciel stubbornly ignoring Sebastian and refusing to make polite talk with Soma. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Agni speaking to Sebastian, looking oh so worried. When he saw one of the indian's hands sneak to the demon's waist, as if to placate him, he was quick to look away again.

Although, such a tender gesture did help elevate some of the fear still coiled in his chest.

It was only later, during the same old routine for bed, that Ciel acted.

Just after Sebastian slipped his night clothes over his head, the earl seized his wrists, stopping the butler from getting up or leaving. Now that he had the demon, he wasn't so sure he could tell him what had been on his mind the entire day.

"Young master? What is it?" The tone Sebastian used was cold and clipped, but hurt too, if one searched for it. This alone made the boy take the last step.

"I...I dreamt of you last night. Y-you..."

"Was I killed by someone? Or perhaps...did I kill you, in this dream of yours?"

Ciel only nodded, waiting for the ridicule or questions to descend and drown him in things he didn't want to think about, or even toy with at the late hours of twilight.

However...instead of speaking, Sebastian hugged him, his embrace loose enough that the boy only felt a second of panic squeezing his chest. He let his head drop to the butler's shoulder, attempting to hide the tears in his now equally uncovered eyes.

"My Lord, I would never hurt you. Even if I am to take your soul one day, many years from now, I am not sure I'd be able to cause you pain." The demon pushed Ciel back, not far enough to push him over, but so that he could look at him.

"I have become rather fond of you, you brat, and I still don't know why. Next time, just tell me what is wrong. It was just a nightmare, after all."

* * *

"Do you think they settled everything?" Soma kept his voice down as he walked with Agni to their guest rooms, swinging his arms and hopping a little to keep up with him. The white haired man was about to answer when they passed by the little earl's room to see Sebastian tucking the boy in.

"I think so." Was Agni's reply, pushing the prince away from the scene - although they still saw the other man bend to press a kiss to the sleepy Ciel's forehead as well as heard him mutter a soft goodnight.

A good night indeed.


End file.
